Wastewater Surveillance Testing for Measles Can Guide Response

TUESDAY, Jan. 20, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- Wastewater surveillance testing for measles can alert public health authorities before and during a measles outbreak, according to research published in the Jan. 15 issue of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.Noting that Colorado reported 16 confirmed measles cases during March to July 2025 while measles outbreaks were occurring in neighboring New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, Grace M. Jensen, M.P.H., from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment in Denver, and colleagues describe the detection of measles virus through wastewater surveillance in Mesa County.After five measles cases were identified in the state, the wastewater surveillance program initiated a measles surveillance pilot project on May 1, 2025. The researchers found that no wild-type measles was detected in wastewater in Mesa County between May 1 and Aug. 4, 2025. Low-level measles detection was identified in a sample collected on Aug. 4, 2025; the highest concentration of measles virus RNA since the pilot began in May was detected in a second wastewater sample collected on Aug. 6, with results received on Aug. 11. The local public health agency was notified of a suspected measles case in an unvaccinated patient aged 10 to 19 years on Aug. 13. The second case was identified in the same region on Aug. 15 in an unvaccinated patient who worked with the index patient. An outbreak investigation was launched and five additional laboratory-confirmed measles cases were identified, with symptom onset during Aug. 11 to 27, among 225 household and health care facility contacts of the first two patients."Wastewater surveillance data complement surveillance for clinical cases, alerting local authorities and aiding resource allocation for outbreak investigations and containment," the authors write.Abstract/Full Text.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

Wastewater Surveillance Testing for Measles Can Guide Response

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